Everything about casinos, lotteries, racetracks, and other gambling businesses: news, design, and corporate intrigue.
A few more thoughts about Atlantic City, culled from a few Advisers to Gov. Chris Christie have called for casino regulatory reform, a public-private Atlantic City marketing initiative and possible state intervention in city government as ways to save New Jersey’s casino industry from competition and its “failed” business model. On Friday, Christie released 19 […]
AC: Moving forward Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingThere’s another negative milestone for Atlantic City slots: in December, they got less play than slots in Pennsylvania. From the AC Press: Gamblers are putting more money into slot machines in Pennsylvania than they are in Atlantic City.The Gaming Industry Observer says December was the first month ever that slot-machine handle in Pennsylvania surpassed Atlantic
PA slots > AC slots Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingBreaking news from the LVRJ: Penn National Gaming will not submit a bid for next week’s planned bankruptcy court auction of the shuttered Fontainebleau project, a company spokesman said Thursday. via Penn won’t pursue Fontainebleau – Breaking News – ReviewJournal.com. What? I don’t believe this. It was supposed to be a sure thing! This is
Things are looking up in Nevada for the first time in a long time. The state’s casinos won more money from gamblers this November than they did last November. Yet there may be another story that isn’t as positive lurking beneath the numbers. From the LVRJ: For the first time in 23 months, Nevada gaming
A November to remember Read More »
news about gamblingThe Atlantic City gaming numbers are in, and 2009 was definitely not pretty. From the AC Press: Casino revenue plunged for the third straight year in 2009, falling below $4 billion for the first time since 1997 as the soft economy and competition from neighboring slot parlors continue to erode the Atlantic City market. Year-end
Great news for Pennsylvanians who like to play table games, bad news for Atlantic City, as Pennsylvania has, to no one’s surprise, approved table gaming. Here’s the reaction from the AC Press: Pennsylvania’s slot parlors won’t stop at table games as they prepare to evolve into Atlantic City-style resort casinos in a fierce battle with
Did you know that there is a casino named the Las Vegas Sun? It’s in Cambodia, according to casinocity.com: Las Vegas Sun Hotel & Casino Address Chantrea District Bavet, Svaay Rieng Cambodia Contact Information General Information – +855 44 945 045 Las Vegas Sun Hotel & Casino Hotel * Las Vegas Sun Hotel (Casino located
New direction for casino themes? Read More »
news about gamblingSpeaking of dark and gloomy, here’s a quote from the day before Mirage opened back in 1989, from the LA Times via proquest: At the same time, though, the new competition is expected to drive struggling gambling halls out of business.”There’;s going to be a shakeout,” said Glenn S. Schaeffer, chief financial officer of Circus
Words from the past Read More »
news about gamblingIf you haven’t read it yet, here’s a link to my latest from the LVBP: But craps players and conventioneers both, even if they know of the efforts made by designers to craft a green building, are more likely to care about other things: How easy is it to get around this building? Does it
Destiny on the Strip Read More »
news about gamblingHere’s a holiday update on the status of Pinnacle’s much-ballyhooed Atlantic City project. Remember the billboards? From the AC Press: The site has become yet another vacant city lot, a prominent symbol of broken promises and the weak economy.Fences line the gravel lot dotted with weeds and a few scattered slabs of old concrete. Local
Post-Pinnacle AC=Post-war Berlin Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingHere’s some breaking news: things don’t look so hot for 2010, at least if you’re in the casino business. From the LVRJ: The impact the recession had on the casino industry in 2009 has not been completely accounted for, but by all measures the year will go down as the worst on record. Through October,
I’ve been busy today getting the slot hold occasional paper finished up, so running the risk of CityCenter fatigue, here’s an excerpt from my last LVBP column about, you guessed it, CityCenter: This might be the most novel thing visitors notice about CityCenter, at first. And its hard to believe that its not by design.
CityCenter and traffic Read More »
news about gamblingI don’t have much time to write today, but I wanted to get this thought out there. I haven’t seen the new James Cameron movie Avatar yet, but from the commercials and the reviews, I think that it might be the best cinematic comparison to City Center. It’s worth noting that they’ve been “in production”
Ariavatar and Cirque du Spring Read More »
gambling & culture, news about gamblingBut you didn’t need me to tell you that, you’ve probably seen pictures and more at ariaopening.com. And here’s a few words from the Sun about the opening: The wait is over. After a two-minute fireworks display, the Aria Resort & Casino opened its doors to the public late Wednesday night, giving tourists and Las
Aria is open at last Read More »
life in vegas, news about gamblingI can’t think of a time that I’ve seen someone put in their place this brilliantly. From NORM: Donald Trump and MGM Mirage management won’t be exchanging Christmas cards. The controversial New York real estate developer is raining on CityCenter’s parade, calling it “an absolute catastrophe.” “The biggest problem is it costs so much,” Trump
On a sneak preview tour last week, I took a few photos of the carpet, with the promise that I’d hold them until the opening. Here’s what you’ll see if you look down in the Aria casino: I’ve also updated the carpet galleries to match the look of the rest of the site. Check out
I’ve got Aria covered Read More »
news about gambling, what's newI’ve been asked by more than one media outlet about City Center, and I thought that I’d just post some of my thoughts here for public consumption. My single-sentence response to “what does it all mean” is that City Center is a gamble in ways that previous Strip projects haven’t been. There’s been skepticism about
City Center in perspective Read More »
news about gamblingAtlantic City has some new competition, or at least a refurbished version of old competition. From the AC Press: While the atmosphere of the stylishly named Parx Casino may feature some European or Asian-inspired elegance, the crowd will have a distinctly Philly flavor. When this new $250 million slots parlor opens its doors Friday, it
Sunday afternoon in the Parx Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingThe Nevada gaming revenue figures for October have been released, and they don’t look promising. From the LVRJ: Nevada gaming revenues hit a new low in October. Statewide gaming revenues were $800.3 million, the lowest monthly figure in almost six years. The decline was 11.6 percent compared with $904.9 million reported a year ago. October
Thoughts on October Revenues Read More »
news about gamblingIf you missed my brief appearance on Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell last night, I’ll give you a quick recap. I was part of a panel that talked about the Terence Watanabe case, which was news because his attorney talked to Good Morning America. I’d prepared some factoids about a previous high-profile attempt to use “the
Stuff I didn’t say yesterday Read More »
news about gambling